Welcome to our discussion of Buffy Season 3 Episode 5: Homecoming; Wherein a surprise date with Cordelia messes up Buffy's date with Faith. Our drinks this time are Slayerfest and The Spatula of Empowerment.

In this, our second try at recording this episode thanks to some technological epic failure, we discuss further out theories about the previous episode and just how gay it—and possibly Oz—are before we move on to bigger and better things. We talk at length about Snard’s theory about what is really going on between Xander and Willow, whether or not Angel knows he has a tattoo, more cargo for the ship of Buffy and Faith, and a whole lot more.

As always, thank you for sticking through the rocky road of technical issues and life things this year, and please make sure to share us with your Buffy-loving friends and anyone else who might enjoy the show. Thank you for listening!

Now on to the show: after Snard reinforces her theory of episode 3 being from Angel’s point of view, we begin our long-running discussion of episode order and how they match a similar pattern on Buffy’s journey through each season. This episode is working under almost pure metaphor for all of our poor scoobies, and we realize early on that it might just be the queerest episode of Buffy—and possibly television—ever. Faith has shown up and presented herself as a possible love interest for Buffy, and so our cast and parts of Buffy suddenly halt and catch fire in their attempt at reinforcing heteronormativity.

Welcome to the second of our 2-part podcast of Buffy Season 3, Episode 3: Faith, Hope & Trick; wherein... OMG Faith is here!!! We pick up where we left off in our very long discussion of the introduction of one of Buffy's most enduring (in more ways than one) characters, and we are loving every minute of it.

We discuss in greater detail the production coding showing Faith as a viable and very real romantic interest for Buffy (sorry, Scott... not), and also investigate Faith's introduction as a means by which the cast, audience, and plot can re-investigate Buffy's past as a slayer and come to new understanding and new ground. Faith is the introduction of a true shadow for Buffy, allowing her greater space to grow and flesh out as a character in ways the Scoobies couldn't accommodate.

We also have a pretty awesome revelation at the end about the real trick in the episode and exactly how Angel returned when he did. Just listen... we think we're brilliant.

We want to thank you so much for listening, sharing, and supporting us. We are approaching our first anniversary, and we have lots of expansions and new ideas in store. Stay tuned!

**A note from Snard: I want to thank everyone for their comments, emails, and messages of concern and encouragement. Right before posting the last episode, I tried a new ADHD medication that disrupted the equilibrium of my normally happy brain chemicals and had to take time out for self care. We are back and ready to go though, and have been recording while I've taken a break from edits, so there's plenty more where this came from. **

Welcome to our 2-part podcast Buffy Season 3, Episode 3: Faith, Hope & Trick; wherein... OMG Faith is here!!! Plus, Trick, some floppy-haired dink, and the return of Angel: now with more naked! We have been anticipating the appearance of Faith since our show's inception and have many, many things to say. As always, we discover deeper themes and meanings than what is meant to be seen on the surface, and we work to uncover what is really going on.

Among the character developments as well as comings and goings around town, we discuss all that is hidden, including what Buffy's dream of Angel and the ring means (it's a trick... get it?), deeper myths that are beginning to come together, and, well.. a ton. Through Faith, we also get to discuss production coding as a way to recognize gay/bi/queer characters as discussed at greater length in The Celluloid Closet, which explains much of how we see such heavy queer themes where many have detected none: and boy, do we detect a few.

Please remember that this is a 2-part episode, so make sure to check back this week for part 2 on this same post (in edits now).

And as always, thank you so much for listening, sharing us with your Buffy-loving friends, commenting, and liking us on Facebook. And thank you SO very much for your patience with our schedule since things have slowed down to terribly this year. We promise we will be back to a regular posting schedule as soon as possible.

**Please forgive us for any audio issues we have had and are having for the next few issues. Some failing equipment caused some serious anomalies that had to be edited around. We have since fixed the problems with massive equipment upgrades, but we have a few episodes yet to get past before it will get WAY better. **

Welcome to our discussion of Buffy Season 3 Episode 2: Dead Man's Party; wherein Buffy's family and friends are incomparable assholes except for Giles who snaps off one of the funniest lines we have ever heard. We have had schnapps to wash down the bitter comments, and also work to try and understand why Buffy's friends are terrible. We postulate many ideas, among them that this episode is from Joyce's point of view, and have some very interesting ideas about the origin of Pat and where she fits into the greater Buffyverse (seriously, Snard found evidence). We also discuss the function of the mask as a reflection of Joyce's consciousness and her need to keep up appearances and activates in her absence of the ability to maintain control - a theme that feeds well into the mythological metaphors of this season.

We have to do a lot of heavy metaphor and character gymnastics in this episode to arc Buffy from her freedom and slayer awakening back into the confines of Sunnydale and the role she is supposed to play as the hero who never shows emotion - setting her up in a way that will prevent her from opening up to Faith when she gets here, and thus creates tension in the story. Our metaphors broadcast all sorts of internal workings and conflicts, and the characters indicate many trends and issues that foreshadows upcoming actions. Love it or hate it, this is a pivotal and telling episode. Plus, Gile's car rant makes it all worth it.

As always, thank you fro much for listening and all you do for the show. Make sure to like us on Facebook, go to our website to comment and see what else we're up to, and contact us at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com. Until next time, when we get to the the thing Jen has been waiting for since we began.... FAITH!!

And because you'll need it after this episode, Richard Simmons being fabulous:

It's hard to believe we're at season 3! And boy do we start out with a bang in our discussion of Buffy Season 3 Episode 1: Anne; Wherein Buffy, Slayer of the Vampires, falls down 6 times and gets up 7. In this episode we see Buffy once again coming to terms with her own resurrection - a theme that will last throughout for all season opening for this show. Her life as she knew it was over, and she is putting the pieces back together in a spartan apartment on the “poor side of town” (Hi, Faith) while her friends and mother still manage to scapegoat her from afar. We see a lot of interesting character movements coming down the pipeline from all characters in foreshadowing and misunderstandings and we also see a glimpse of the Slayer we know Buffy can be - despite being in mourning and trying to not be the hero, she steps up and kicks ass in glorious fashion when the times comes, all while paralleling Angel’s unseen journey through the underworld and also many clues into how to interpret his words and actions once he returns. Stay tuned for some dynamite work on the Greek Myth front with this development.

We talk a lot about the movements of all Buffy's parts here, discuss Buffy's deeper slayer self, and also inspect many foreshadowings and deeper currents illustrated by the Scoobies that will come to light as time goes by in future episodes. Plus, we get a pretty dope costuming metaphor with Lily's Rocky Horror shirt and parallels to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This is only the beginning of an amazing season of television.

And make sure to pay attention to our new feature of the podcast: Buffy-themed cocktails created by us and tailored for each episode.

As always, thank you so much for listening and helping us boost our signal. Even though it's been two full seasons now, we feel like we're just getting started. Please make sure to like us on Facebook, visit our website, and share us with your Buffy-loving friends.

Today's episode is all about Buffy Season 2 Episode 22: Becoming; Wherein Buffy loses everything but herself and we need a f***ing truckload of Kleenex. We talk at great length about this masterpiece because So much happens in this episode, and all of it is crazy important; we discuss some (we think) theories about Whistler and his origins and why maybe we’re supposed to not like him, discuss how the story progresses through both metaphor and character in masterful strokes that show us what is happening to Buffy, defend and also discuss Xander’s worst lie ever and why he says what he does.

This episode transcends all that comes before it in many ways; marking an end of the innocence and previous reality for Buffy and all of her Scoobies, both as metaphor and as characters. One major hallmark of this is the strong and blatant correlation to Buffy showing her mom that she is the Slayer as a coming out, and coding Slayers as bi-sexaul, a trend that if you are watching for it (and believe us, as we're watching) is thick and fascinating as a motivator for much of the rest of the show. This is the event horizon that catapults Buffy into a new world of storytelling and metaphor from here on out.

As always, thank you so much for listening! Please comment, like, share, and participate in any way you see fit to help us boost our signal. Make sure to like us of Facebook and feel free to email us at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com.

After some technological near-disasters where the audio of this episode was saved only by the talents of Michelle's techno-pagan boyfriend Alex, we are finally back on track and ready to go! You can ignore our discussion of taking a week off and get your engines running for what comes next. There will be custom cocktails, more explicit discussion of myth in Buffy, and maybe even some Mad Libs.

In our show we discuss Buffy Season 2 Episode 21: Becoming Part 1; Wherein Angelus demonstrates once again that he is really smart, but also really fucking stupid; Kendra, Slayer of the Vampyres, breaks the first rule of slaying; and, offscreen in Boston, the next slayer is called.

This episode is the first half on one of the most impactful season ends in the history of television. There is an incredible scope of storytelling and foreshadowing going on, all while masterfully expanding our understanding of Angel as a character as well as seeing the origin story of our vampire cast, our knowledge of the Buffyverse, and our big feels that lead up to the heartbreak at the end of the season. We also see very interesting work at expanding our conversation about what happens when you become a vampire and how who you were before and how you are turned dictate much of what type of demon you will become.

We talk about a lot and cover a ton of very interesting ideas. Among them, the possible origins of Acathla, our glimpse into Scoopy normality, the brilliant conflicts between the characters as both metaphor and people, and work at moving forward with queer metaphors.

Thank you so much for listening! Please make sure to like us on Facebook, visit our website, comment wherever you see fit to keep the conversation going, and as always we are happy to hear from you if you email us any time at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com.

We’ll see you next time for Becoming Part 2

And in case you wanted to get more information on queerness and production coding, allow us to present The Celluloid Closet:

In this show we talk all about Buffy Season 2 Episode 02: Go Fish; Wherein there are fish monsters and also unexpected lessons in sexual victimhood. This episode does so much to move Buffy forward as a show and as our characters move into their respective positions for next season. It also works to brilliantly flip the gender narrative and reveal some very interesting work of social commentary and brilliant storytelling. It also does heavy work in the realm of questioning and studying exceptionalism.

We also see the influence of the 50s still heavily playing as a hangover from the last episode, bringing in not only forward movements into Angel’s past, but also the influence of man trying to overcome and exploit the supernatural and the misunderstood through the genetic experiments. In this episode, all of our characters begin to hit their stride and move into places that they will occupy as we move into the third season. Xander hits his stride, Cordy is brave, Willow seems torn in her affections (and playing card choices), and Jonathan is moving into a more aggressive stance through continued bullying.

It’s a long episode and we cover a lot. Please enjoy! As always thank you so much for listening. Please make sure to like us on Facebook, visit our website, and feel free to email us any time at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com.

In today's show we talk at great length about Buffy Season 2 Episode 19: I Only Have Eyes for You - Wherein we watch a little masterpiece. We discuss the transcendent nature of this episode in particular, as well as discuss some potent foreshadowing, the potential time-disruptive influence of Angelus and the Slayer on the Hellmouth's magic. We speculate on a lot, actually, including whether or not Snider is human.

This episode is a major turning point in the course of Buffy and Angel and is famous for showing Joss Whedon that David Boreanaz had what it took to cary his own show. We also see a major turning point in this episode in how Angelus decides to deal with his emotions and Buffy, and explore the flipping of the typical gender narrative which will carry us through next week's episode.

As always thank you so much for listening. Be sure to like us on Facebook, go to our website for updates and extras, and as always, we would love to hear from you - info@diogenesclubpodcast.com

And in case you feel the need to watch this again because we brought it up and it is impossible to talk about this song without wanting to watch it.

In today's show we discuss Buffy Season 2 Episode 18: Killed by Death - Wherein tact is just not saying true stuff. We talk about why Buffy got sick and the possibilities of influence of the PTBs in early Buffy, Cordelia's continuing evolution as part of the Scoobies, get some hints of the amazing man Xander will become as well as some troubling indications of Willow's moral compass.

This episode of Buffy helps to set the stage of the final episode of this season and chapter of Buffy's journey into becoming the person who can make the hardest decision anyone could ever make. We have the difficult task of moving her beyond just missing Angel and into some who can lose everything and still find a strength greater than the sum of her parts. We have more work yet to do next week in Go Fish.

As always, thank you so much for listening and for your patience while Snard finishes transitioning into her new job and new schedule. Please make sure to like us on Facebook, check out our website for new things and future developments. And as always, please email us any time at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com.

We drink scotch and delay often, discuss the Shakespearean quality of this episode. We go into depth into the storytelling language of the film medium, lots and lots of costume analysis, and, well... this is one of our favorite episodes.

We also speculate about the nature of Angelus' crime against the gypsies (hint: he might have turned her instead of killing her. And maybe had her kill her family...)

This episode begins asking the big question of the season: who are you when you have nothing left? And we begin to see what Buffy's answer might be. Plus, Snard/Michelle reveals who Giles' Greek myth counterpart is. Hint: his symbol is a flaming torch and he has a temper.

And as always, thank you so much for listening, supporting, commenting, and enjoying. Please make sure to visit our website and like us on Facebook for maximum enjoyment.

We're FINALLY back after Michelle/ Snard's training and subsequent need for sleep and brain rest instead of editing audio. We're back on schedule though and don't anticipate any more interruptions!

In today's episode, we discuss Buffy Season 2 Episode 16: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, wherein Xander triggers a love spell that promptly goes awry, there is a Buffy Rat, and Jenny Calendar, Drucilla, and Joyce, laughter0induced hernias are had by all BUT alert: this is the Buffyverse so the hilarity of the episode means that the next one will rip out your heart and feed it to you.

We observe some evolution in Buffy and Xander's relationship (and thus between Buffy and her Heart), explore the darker side of magic, and through the love spell see a new way to view Angelus' behavior toward Buffy in the coming episodes.

In today’s episode, Buffy is going through a few things and so is our new Scooby Oz. That’s right, it’s Buffy Season 2, Episode 15: Phases: Wherein Angelus, Larry the Closet Case, a werewolf hunter named Kane, and Oz all give us different versions of the “all men are beasts” theory later posited by Faith is Season 3.

And really, the subtitle says just about all we can say. This episode works both to examine toxic masculinity as well as showing us the inner workings of Buffy dealing with the loss of Angel to Angelus in beautifully orchestrated metaphor through the Scoobies, as well as the reflection that a beast doesn’t have to be a monster, as Oz proves. We also get to see Cordy and Willow bond over their tipping of the gender norm tables and that scene never gets old (“Who do they think they are?” “A couple of guys.”)

As always, please keep commenting, liking, sharing, reviewing, and all the other wonderful things you do to help boost our signal and give us feedback. And you can always contact us directly on info@diogenseclubpodcast.com.

Also, keep in mind that sometime this week or next, Michelle/Snard will have finished re-mastering the sound on our old episodes and will be refreshing the podcast feed, so if things go all wonky, that’s why.

Happy Birthday, Buffy! No seriously, though. The 10th is Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s 20th anniversary. And we feel old.

Welcome to the second part of the epic duo episodes that chronicle Angel going all Angelus and we are both misty eyed and amused at once. Today, we discuss Buffy Season 2 Episode 14 Innocence: Wherein all ye know and all ye need to know is ROCKET LAUNCHER.

We talk about… well, a lot of stuff. Seriously, like, a lot. Just listen. But among all of it, we discuss Michelle’s (Snard’s) theory and in-depth research about the coded language of leather and velvet in the power dynamic of Angel and Buffy. There will be a post on Michelle’s Blog about it, so if you don’t follow everything, we have you covered. Also, we talk about Angel’s history, add some cargo onto Michelle’s ship of Angel and Spike.

Did we mention rocket launcher?

Make sure to stay tuned for Michelle’s blog, and make sure to read Jen’s blog as well, and let us know what you like or would enjoy reading. Also, we’re still collecting iTunes reviews for our incentive goal.

And as always, help us boost our signal by visiting our website, liking us on Facebook, sharing us with your Buffy-loving friends, and keeping in touch by emailing us at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com.

In today’s episode, we discuss the unforgettable Buffy Season 2 Episode 13 Surprise: Wherein Oh shit! It’s Buffy’s birthday! We have a TON of material that we cover, not the least being the possible meanings behind the prevalence of water and rain in this episode as well as the indications for who’s perspective we might be filtering this episode through. We also speculate heavily (and brilliantly, if we do say so) on the nature of Angel’s curse and what *true happiness* means.

Oh yeah, and Willow and Oz become A Thing finally - or at least Willow says the word “date,” and Oz very calmly is indoctrinated into the Scoobies. Welcome, Oz.

We are still working on getting reviews on iTunes to help us get to our incentives, so please help us out and write even just a few words about what you think of us. It helps us immensely. Also be sure to like us on Facebook for news and such, comment on the website, and feel free to email us at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com any time.

**Please note that we have received some feedback about quiet audio, and we hear you (even if you couldn’t hear us!) The latest episodes have had a volume boost, and Snard is hard at work remastering all of our previous episodes for re-release as soon as possible. Let us know if we sound better!**

In today’s episode, we discuss Buffy season 2 Episode 12 Bad Eggs wherein we are inexplicably entertained by what is supposed to be a bad episode. Though this episode is primarily a bit of fluff and fun to carry us through the tempestuous emotions of the season’s coming turn of fate, we uncover that a lot more is going on than meets the eye initially, including some musical foreshadowing and cues, a little potential backstory of Angel’s darker days (and a fantastic cult film reference), as well as the fluctuating dynamics between the truth about Buffy’s life and her mother that will come to a breaking point by the end of the season. It’s a pretty fascinating time.

We also discuss some changes to our review incentives we’re offering: ten iTunes reviews and Michelle/Snard will perform One Night in Bangkok, fifteen, and we will allow a vote on what will be done, and at twenty reviews, we will give our analysis and attentive treatment to the masterpiece of crowdfunding and cinema: Kung Fury.

We really want to do these extra things, so please, please help us by posting an honest review. Also, like us on Facebook for updates and conversation, and always feel free to comment on our website (www.diogenesclubpodcast.com) or email us at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com.

Today we celebrate Valentine’s Day Hellmouth-style with our discussion of Buffy Season 2 Episode 11 Ted: Wherein Buffy performs several acts that she will deny for the rest of the series. We investigate the possibly Greek myth themes of Ted and the other robots found on the Hellmouth (hint: it’s Pygmalion) and also it’s heavy foreshadowing of Faith’s character arc and vulnerabilities along with some incredibly strong similarities between Ted and the Mayor. We also track Joyce’s downward momentum as Buffy’s mom and introduce the Faith and Buffy Bell.

One of the very interesting aspects of this episode is how much it exposes the vulnerabilities and character arc of Faith later on and sets the stage for a lack of understanding that leads to her to working with the Mayor. Once again, we see that there’s no such thing as a standalone episode of Buffy.

We’re still trying to get 10 reviews on iTunes to help boost our signal, and Michelle (Snard) is eagerly working on incentives and rewards for as soon as our milestones of 10, 15, and 20 reviews are reached.

Welcome to our discussion of Buffy Season 2 Episodes 9 and 10, What’s My Line Part 1: Wherein we meet Kendra, Slayer of the Vampyres, and What’s My Line Part 2: Wherein Buffy’s only child syndrome makes an appearance for what will not be the last time.

We make some observation about linguistic cues into the relationships between Spike, Angel, and Drucilla and some reasons Spike has to be jealous, begin our tracking of how the nature of the slayer and her lifecycle work (and which of the two slayers are actually the real one). We get to have a window via Kendra into the typical life of a Vampyre slayer and just how different Buffy is from the rest. We also discuss the evolution of Bangel and the blossoming of their shadow-relationship of Xander and Cordelia, all of which sets us up for the heartache we know is coming. We would also be remiss if we didn’t mention the crazy chemijstry between Angel and Dru and how their scene reveals the depth of the torment that Angelus visited on his object of lust, which might be relevant.

Don’t forget our review incentives! When we get to 10 iTunes reviews, we are offering a big reward on our website www.diogenesclubpodcast.com wherein Snard will display her lack of shame by singing One Night in Bangkok, and the more reviews we get, the more extras will be created just for you — you might even get to tell us what you’d like to see next.

Here we conclude our third and final episode of our Ripper Arc episodes with Buffy Season 2 Episode 8 The Dark Age: Wherein there is more Ripper (and more Ethan. Yay!). In this episode, Giles’ Ripper past comes back to haunt him in the most literal and worst way possible. We get to see Giles at his worst and from that as a consequence, we get to see the Scoobies and their metaphorical roles have to handle a difficult situation without Buffy’s mind. We also get to see Angel do something pretty helpful and bad ass.

We learn though this episode (as well as the others) not only that Giles has a dark past, but also that he has a dark alter-ego just beneath the surface at all times. We are also rewarded with some heavy foreshadowing and interesting character movements that set us up for the next heartbreaking and amazing chapter of Buffy.

Michelle (Snard) also introduces her incentive to help us get more reviews to help us boost our ratings. It involves music. And singing. Review us on iTunes, and good and things will happen.

One more time, please help us boost our signal, dear Gentle Listeners, in whatever ways you can. We are always, always happy to hear from you on the interwebs, facebook, or you can reach us at info@diogenesclubpodcast.com.

As discussed earlier, make sure to check out the fabulous Jonathan Coulton song RE:Your Brains and the irresistibly funny Eddie Izzard.

Be seeing you….

As discussed earlier, make sure to check out the fabulous Jonathan Coulton song RE:Your Brains